The Shelter
by Lupa Wolfe
Summary: Home for all my little HMC oneshots. Includes Drama King and a new addition Misunderstandings. Everyone is acting strange. What exactly are they hiding from Sophie?
1. Drama King

Disclaimer- I do not own Howl's Moving Castle… or Howl T.T. One of these days Miyazaki. One of these days -across the seas in Japan, Hayao is locking up the rights to all his stories-.

One-shot: The Drama King

She was going to beat him. She just needed to find him first.

"Howl?" She opened another closet door. Nothing. Sophie sighed, shut the door then continued to check behind all the doors in the castle. Howl had been missing all morning. She _knew_ he was in the castle somewhere.

She had swept through the castle twice now and there was no sign of him. It was to be expected though. He was a great wizard and could probably conceal himself as a rock or a plant, or something. In which case, she shook every plant in the house vigorously. Just in case.

"Howl I am going to skin you if you do not stop behaving like a child, and come out this instant. We broke the curse, remember?" She muttered, looking under a rug. When you're Howl anything was possible.

In the months since the end of the war, life had been… well nearly perfect. Everyone was so kind, and they were closer and more dear to her than her actual family, she was afraid to say.

The issue was the size of the castle. She did love to clean but it was such a huge job she needed a _little_ help now and then. So in order to save her sanity she'd written up chores for Howl, Markl, The Witch and even Hein. Calcifer being perpetually doomed to one location couldn't do much, so she didn't bother with him.

Markl was assigned dishes. Being the adorably self sufficient little boy that he was, he told up the job with much gusto, eager to show Sophie he was useful.

The Witch was assigned windows. There were dozens of window in the castle, but by doing one each day then circling around to the one she had started with, it wasn't all that time consuming. Actually, she didn't really seem to mind it. She said it brought back memories of her and her beau when they lived together and divided chores.

Hein would pick up small items off the ground and put them in a basket for Sophie to return there proper places later. Once a pair of Howl's underwear found their way in there. Howl had blushed to the tips of his ears and turned Hein into a pigeon. It didn't matter to him that Sophie did his laundry anyway, it was the principal of the thing. It took them nearly a day to convince Howl to change Hein back. He also doubled as a duster. Hein's fur was mostly static electricity so when he waddled around the castle, one can nearly see the dust bunnies following him.

Now all Howl had to do was swept the floors and pick up after himself. That was all. Did he do it? Nooooooo. He'd been avoiding it for days. She really shouldn't say he was acting like a child, because it was unfair to Markl. But that man had a lot of growing up to do. She had to admit since the curse had been broken, he was becoming more and more mature and in great leaps and bounds. But when it came to housework Howl was incorrigible.

"Lazy… stubborn… man!" She muttered searching high and low.

Markl ran up to Sophie, "Sophie! I think I found him."

"Where?" She asked, amazed.

"Under his bed." He then dashed upstairs.

She felt like smacking her forehead with the heel of her hand. She had checked his room, but not under his bed. Wasn't that the most common hiding spot? She sighed and followed Markl to Howl's room.

Once there she knelt on the floor and looked under his bed. Sure enough there he was, like a lump of clothing curled up under his bed.

"Howl, what on earth are you thinking? If you really hate chores that much I don't mind doing them, but at least tell me you refuse."

Howl muttered something inaudible, sounding as if he had a sock in his mouth.

"What?" Sophie asked, her brow knitting.

A little rustling and Sophie could see the top of Howl's head. "I said, I'll do it, but not now. Leave me alone."

Sophie felt a little twinge in the region of her heart at his cold dismissal, "Not until you come out."

"Sophie, please! I don't want you to see me like this." He moaned.

Sophie cast a quizzical glance to Markl, who shrugged his shoulders. Sophie turned back to Howl. "What do you mean? You don't want me to see you acting like a baby? Is that it?"

"No! That's not what I mean. I'm hideous. You… you'd hate me, if you saw me." He said quietly, his voice breaking a little.

A little jolt of fear went through her. Did removing the curse have some sort of side effect? A sick feeling in her stomach, she reached under the bed to touch Howl. He jerked away from her. "Please, Sophie. I don't want you to see me."

"Howl…I love you. I loved you when you gooed all over the floors when your hair turned red. I loved you when you protected us from the war. I loved you when you had turned into more monster than man. You can't get me to stop loving you, no matter what you do or how you look. Now please, come out and we'll face whatever the problem is. Together." Sophie held her breath, praying that Howl would confide in her and trust her not to turn away in fear or disgust.

After a moment of silence on Howl's part, he shimmied out from under the bed. He sat Indian style in front of Sophie, with a blanket over his head. Quickly, as if the blanket would burn him, he whipped it off.

Beneath the blanket was… Howl. He was as gorgeous as ever. His eyes held the same intensity. His hair was the same color. Her heart still pounded at the sight of him. This time he seemed to be the one holding his breath. Sophie examined him top to bottom with her eyes but she could see no difference in him. With bewildered look, she looked him in the eyes.

"Howl, I can't see anything different about you."

His expression tortured, he said, "Look closer."

She did and leaned in to examine his face. Still nothing. "Ah, Howl…"

"Look here!" He exclaimed, pointing to his chin. Sophie did and after a moment of complete shock, fell backward in laughter. Howl had a very hurt look on his face, and she stopped immediately when she noted it.

"I'm sorry, Howl. I didn't mean to laugh but you've made a very large mountain out of a very little mole hill." At his confused expression, she explained further, "Everyone gets a pimple, now and again. After a few days it'll disappear. You're still my Howl, pimple or no." She said, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

Tentatively, he touched his chin, "Are you sure? You don't think I'm disgusting?"

She grinned, "Howl, if I can survive your goo, then I can survive anything."

Howl pulled her to him and hugged her fiercely, "Thank you, Sophie."

Feeling warm and safe, she hugged him back, "You're very welcome, Howl." Howl tipped her chin up and kissed her softly.

"Blech. Grown-ups." Markl muttered, shaking his head and left the lovedbirds to thier own devices.

_Fin_

(A/N: I know I've said I hated one shots, but I just got this idea in my head and I _had_ to write it down and share. Thanks for reading -wink-.)


	2. Misunderstandings

Disclaimer- -Copies and pastes previous disclaimer-. There. You're still in danger of being pilfered by me Miyazaki.

Foreword- Yeah. I know. Weren't expecting this, were you? I'm turning this into my HMC one-shot home. When a cute or touching HMC story idea hits me, this is where I'll put it. Speaking of HMC stories, this one probably makes no sense. And I bet every single one of them are OOC. But that's okay. This _is_ my one-shot dumping ground, after all. Enjoy!

One-shot 2: Misunderstandings

The early glow of morning light seeped into her room slowly, as if waiting for permission to enter. It cast warm golden dusty rays of sunlight into the room and gently pulled her from a deep sleep.

Sophie came slowly awake, but didn't open her eyes right away. She'd had a wonderful dream during the night and she was trying to remember it. Trying to grasp the wispy ends of that fragmented light hearted illusion.

All she could recall about it, other than it made her wake up feeling wonderful, is that someone had been with her. Making her laugh. Making her heart race. Making all other worries and concerns float away in the wake of an indescribable joy. Before she could find his face, the dream was lost to her.

When she finally did open her eyes, it was with a sigh. She had the feeling that she had that dream often. So why couldn't she remember it clearly? Blinking sleepily, she forced herself to her feet and walked over to her window, still in her sleep things. Sophie unlatched the window and leaned out of it, letting the brisk fall air caress her cheeks and the warm light shine on her upturned face.

It was going to be a beautiful day. She looked down at the ground several hundred feet below the castle and smiled, knowing she was one of only a few people that had the opportunity to be the first to greet the dawn each day.

She looked forward to each day with eagerness and excitement. It was hard to remember that she'd once thought that having this kind of zest for life was impossible, at least for her. Now, she looked forward to eating meals with everyone. She loved talking to Markl, and watching him practice his magic. She loved lazy evenings of doing nothing but lying around with the Witch and Hein. And she really loved the quiet, deep discussions she and Howl had from time to time.

An upside down face appeared in front of hers so suddenly that she gasped and jumped a foot in the air.

"Good morning, Sophie!" Howl greeted cheerfully, a dashing grin on his handsome face. He was actually outside (hundreds of feet above the ground, mind you), hanging upside down. His sleek shoulder length black hair was following gravities cue and hung in the direction of the ground.

"Howl!" Sophie exclaimed, hand over her heart, trying to calm it from jumping out of her throat. "What on earth are you doing out there?" She asked.

"Wishing you a good morning?" He answered.

"You couldn't wait till I came downstairs?" She asked, thinking it spoke wonders at how, after the initial shock, she wasn't particularly alarmed that she was having a conversation with a gorgeous man who happened to be hanging upside down in midair outside her bedroom window.

"Oh, I suppose I could have done that too." He grinned again, looking rather sheepish. He put his hands on either side of the wall next to her window and pulled himself inside. He half sat, half leaned on the edge of the window, "But then, I wanted to be the first one to see and greet you today." He said casually, though his eyes burned with an intensity that made her feel breathless. She always marveled at how he could go from casual friend to flirt in almost no time at all. It must be in his blood.

"What's so important about today?" She asked, trying not to trip and make a fool of herself over him, as she crossed the room to her vanity. Even something as simple as Howl's presence in the room had the power to make her weak in the knees. She found she had to watch herself carefully, lest she succumb to his charms like so many women before her and melt into a puddle at his feet.

"Oh, nothing in particular. Just because." He replied, his eyes following her path across the room. Sophie swallowed hard. Those eyes of his should be illegal.

She shook her head, "Almost three months after your curse is broken and you still make no sense." She picked up her hair brush then gestured for the door, "Go on downstairs and I'll be there soon. What do you feel like having for breakfast?"

He grinned and stood to his full height. He walked toward her with a deadly swagger and said devilishly, "You."

Sophie supposed she should have been use to his flirting by then, but every now again he managed to surprise a blush out of her. "Get going, you cad." She said, feeling the heat rise in her neck to the tips of her ears. She gave him a gentle shove out the door and closed in behind him.

Leaning against the door she put hand against her throat. He was the only thing in her life that she wasn't sure about, the only thing that confused her. She didn't know _what_ relationship she had with Howl, to be honest. After that one fantastic kiss three months ago, Howl had made no moves to repeat the experience.

Yes, he certainly flirted and acted the regular rouge, but that didn't mean anything. As far as she knew, he flirted with every female with a certain diameter of himself. The fact remained that he hadn't mentioned the kiss. Nor did he mention any relationship between them other than friendship. Sophie was beginning to think he regretted the kiss. That maybe he'd gotten caught up in the moment, and that it was one of those spontaneous things that you wished hadn't happened. The thought caused a painful ache in her chest. If that were true then she didn't know what she'd do.

She still loved him. That wasn't the question. The question was- did he love her? Had he ever loved her? She sighed, she just wasn't sure. And she was too scared to ask and risk their friendship. She would have to be satisfied with whatever he felt comfortable offering. She didn't mind being just friends. Really.

Sophie dressed and went downstairs. She knocked on Markl's door to wake him, and after a pause entered. He wasn't in his room. She frowned and went to the Witch's room. It was the same as Markl's room, vacant. Wondering why everyone was up as early as she was, Sophie entered the kitchen.

There, in front of the hearth where Calcifer lived, was everyone in her new family. They were crowded in a tight circle around something Howl held. They were whispering to each other in low tones, with the occasional "Yeah!" or "No." breaking above the surface of their low voices. Hein was running in little circles of pure undiluted joy. Sophie just hoped he didn't make himself sick. She knew who would be cleaning up _that_ mess.

Markl looked up from the circle and saw Sophie. His eyes became wide before he quickly he put his head down to Howl's ear, whispering something, which made Howl looked up. He looked at Sophie and grinned, unabashed. He stood, smoothly passing what looked like an ordinary sheet of paper to Calcifer, who in turn swallowed it with pleasure.

"Sophie! Good morning again. How are you? Good? Great! Can't stay for breakfast I'm afraid. People to see, things to do." He said, quickly and nonchalantly, as if nothing unusual were going on.

Sophie put her hands on her hips, "Alright, what's going on? Don't play innocent with me. You're all hiding something."

Calcifer piped up, "Us? Hiding something? Now why would you say- mmph." Howl crammed a log into Calcifer's mouth then grinned again at Sophie.

"Really, Sophie. When did you become so paranoid? It was just a list of ingredients that I needed Markl to buy for me." He said just as smoothly.

"Then why did you have Calcifer eat it?" She countered.

"Why, it's a very special potion. I can't just leave it lying around where any witch or wizard could come along and peek at it, now can I? Look after things for me while I'm out, will you? There's a good girl." He saluted the lot of them, his eyes lingering a moment longer on Sophie before he turned and left out by way of magical door.

She grit her teeth at his unsatisfactory answers and grimly rounded on the others. Looking stern, she folded her arms resolutely, staring them down. "One of you is going to tell me what's going on."

Calcifer, Hein, Markl and the Witch looked at each other for a moment then scattered.

"I've got to pick up those ingredients for Master Howl!" Markl said running out the door.

"My, look how early it is. I should go back to bed." Muttered the Witch, shuffling off as quickly as she could.

Calcifer did the next best thing to running away and stuffed another log into his mouth.

Hein looked around dazedly at how quickly everyone had separated, then ran for the couch, skidding on the wooden floors till he slid under it.

Sophie shook her head. They were all incorrigible. But she'd get it out them, sooner or later. She grinned at Calcifer rather evilly. Calcifer swallowed the last bit of his log with difficultly, mentally damning Howl and the others for leaving him alone. It was going to be a long day.

-

The passing of morning yielded no results. She had to hand it to Calcifer; he did an excellent job sticking to the story. She hadn't been able to get a peep of information out of him. Maybe she _was_ just being paranoid. Lunch came and went. Markl had returned around that time, looking wary, but by then she had resolved herself to wait. If they had been hiding something, then it'd pop up again later. Secrets never remained so secret for very long.

Sophie was in the middle of preparing dinner when Howl returned. The color on the door clicked to home and in came Howl, looking frustrated. Her brows rose, "Hard day?"

He blinked and smiled at her, the aura of frustration leaving him almost immediately, "A bit." He inhaled deeply, taking in the scents drifting to him from the kitchen, "What's cooking, good looking?" He asked playfully as he came to stand next to her by the stove.

"Spaghetti." She said, smiling herself. Howl loved Spaghetti. It always made her happy to see how worked up he got when she made it. It took a little more time to prepare the sauce from scratch, but it was worth it when it made Howl so happy.

"Really?" He asked, his voice filling with excitement and anticipation.

She laughed, "Yes, really."

He grinned wirily at her for a moment before his expression turned from playful to that strong intensity that made her feel like squirming.

"Howl? What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"

He sighed, "I'm trying to figure out how to bring this up."

A little jolt of something close to fear went through her, "Bring what up?"

He took her hand in his, "Come here." He walked over to the couch and sat down, pulling her down to sit next to him.

"What is it?" She asked again, trying to sound cool and collected.

"I- ah, I wanted to tell you something. I mean, ask. I wanted to ask you something. Yes, that's it." He rambled, not sounding like the Howl she was used to.

Sophie brow knitted. He sounded nervous. Howl was almost never nervous like this. What exactly was going on? "Howl, just say it." She urged.

He opened his mouth to speak. Then closed it. He opened it again, but again closed it promptly. He was beginning to resemble a gaping fish. He licked his lips, shifted to face Sophie more and took both of her hands in his. "Sophie, I-." He stopped suddenly, a look on his face she couldn't describe, then let go of her hands. "I can't do this. I must be insane."

He got up and walked quickly toward the stairs. Markl, Hein and the Witch ran down the staircase from their hiding spot and blocked Howl's get away.

"Oh no you don't!" Markl said, turning him around to face Sophie and pushing at the small of his back.

Howl refused to move his feet so the Witch joined in, pushing at his shoulders. "Don't be wimp." She muttered. Hein spun in a circle a few times before joining in excitedly by nudging at Howl's Achilles' tendon.

Howl dug his heels in, but with the combined effort of the three of them, they slowly pushed him back to the couch and Sophie.

"Don't chicken out now, Master Howl." Markl said, patting him on the highest part of his back that he could reach.

"You can do it." The Witch said, nodding. Hein wheezed his agreement. That said the three of them returned to stair case where they could watch and listen to the two of them.

Howl didn't dart for the stairs again, probably because he knew the meddlers would interfere again, so he stood his ground. Sophie had watched the whole event with confusion clearly etched into her features.

"Howl…" She started, then stood and approached him, "You can tell me. Just…please, tell me. It can't be all that bad." She finished lightly, even smiling a little. She wasn't going to make a fuss what ever it was that Howl had to say. He had to ask her something... Maybe he wanted to ask her to leave his home. She nearly winced at the idea, but managed to clear her face from reflecting her thoughts.

Howl swallowed past the lump in his throat and closed his eyes. They stood like that for an extended moment. When he opened them, they were clear with a new determination. He took both her hands in his, smiled at her, and started, "Sophie, will-." He paused again.

"JUST SAY IT!" The occupants of the room shouted.

Howl glared at them, seemed to brace himself, then said in a rush, "Sophie, will you go out with me?"

She blinked. Was that all? That was what all the drama and angst was about? Honestly… "Sure."

Howl's grin was so large it could have broken his face in two. He picked her up in a bear hug, swinging her around. Markl let out a whoop while Hein ran in his joyous little circles. The Witch and Calcifer clapped in relief.

Once Howl had set her back on her feet, Sophie looked up at him, "I can't believe that's what all this fuss was about. What was on that paper that you didn't want me to see?"

Howl actually blushed, "Nevermind that." He cleared his throat, "Well, you never talked about dating, or kissing, or anything that couples do, so I couldn't tell whether or not you still liked me."

She laughed, "And here I was, worried that _you_ didn't like _me_ anymore."

He shook his head, "For such a smart lady, you're awfully dense. Hey!" Sophie poked him hard in the shoulder. Rubbing it gingerly, he elaborated, "I've been sending you dreams of the two of us spending the day together. I flirt with you all the time. I love talking and spending time with you. C'mon, haven't I been making it obvious?"

Sophie blushed, muttering about how he flirted with all the girls.

He shook his head, "You're the only girl I want to flirt with." He said, devilish grin in place. "And now that we're dating, I can finally do what all official couples do."

Her brow wrinkled, "What?"

Eyes intense he tipped her face up to within a hair's width from his, "This." And lowered his mouth to hers tenderly.

Sophie leaned into him as his lips softly caressed hers. Her eyes closed on a sigh and they fell into their own little world. Markl covered his eyes. The Witch sighed dreamily, thinking it was all terribly romantic. Hein at last toppled over to his side from all his spinning. Calcifer scoffed, "About time, you two."

Swept up in each other, they didn't hear a word.

_Fin_

(A/N: I'm slowly but surely beginning to like one-shots. The well thought out ones. I suppose they also have their good points, as do chapter stories. Man, I hate admitting it.

Thanks to everyone for reviewed for Drama King. It's nice to know you all enjoyed it. And I just noticed Arcane also reviewed this. Jeez, Arcane, are you stalking me or something? P. Kidding, kidding! But seriously, thanks for your support. You're a five star reviewer!

FYI: That paper had numerous plans on it about how Howl would go about asking Sophie to go out with him, you know like inside a heart would be "Sophie & Howl 4eva" and other little doodles. Something he was too embarrassed to let Sophie see. In the end he decided to just blurt it out.  
He went out for duel purposes. One of the reasons was to avoid Sophie's perceptual questions. The second reason was that he really did have business to do. It wasn't anything terribly relevant. Maybe he went to see Madame Suliman? I don't know -sweatdrop-.  
But my version of Howl probably isn't accurate here. I suppose my only excuse is that he was nervous about how Sophie would react, causing him to be a little bipolar. Sorry about that.  
I hope it was okay all the same. Thank you for reading!)


End file.
